I walk to my locker, taking out my jacket and purse. “Can you send me the rest of the results when you get them, Mallory?” I ask her before I leave, and she nods at me. “See you guys tomorrow.”
“There she is,” he says. “You took forever,” he says, jumping and pressing the elevator button.
We walk out of the hospital, and he grabs my hand as we walk to the McDonald’s around the corner. We sit down with our meals, and I cut up his cheeseburger in four pieces while Sarah goes to the bathroom.
I pick up a french fry. “We should make a toast,” I tell him. It is something that I do with my nephew when I take him to McDonald’s. “Pick up a french fry,” I tell him, and he does. I hold my french fry out, and he follows my lead. “To getting better,” I say and knock my french fry with his, and then I eat it.
“Let’s do that again,” he says after he finishes his french fry.
“Okay, your turn,” I tell him, and he picks up his french fry.
“What do you want to toast?” I ask him.
“To getting better, silly,” he says, laughing and knocking my fry, then popping it in his mouth. When Sarah comes back, he does toasts with her also till the fries are gone.
When we leave McDonald’s, he yawns and leans into me. “I’m tired,” he says, and I bend down to pick him up in my arms. He wraps his arms around my neck and places his head on shoulder. “You have soft hair,” he says while his hand brushes my hair, and I just nod.
“There is the car,” Sarah says when the car pulls up to the curb. “I’ll take him,” she says, putting her hands out, and he goes to her. “Say thank you to Denise.”
“Thank you, Dr. Denise,” he says sleepily.
I rub his face with my hand. “Today was my favorite day ever,” I tell him, and he smiles slyly, trying his hardest to keep his eyes open. “You have my number?” I ask Sarah, and she nods at me.
“Zack gave it to me last night.”
“Text me if anything comes up,” I say, and she nods. Bending down, she gets in the car and holds his head to protect him. I watch the car drive off, wondering how a mother could not be there for their child, how a mother wouldn’t give their own life for their child. How if it was my child, I would make a deal with the devil just to have him safe. I shake my head, and my phone rings. I look down and see it’s Steve.
“What’s up?” I say, answering right away as I walk into the subway.
“You were right,” he says. “He’s the perfect candidate.”
I smile. “I knew it.”
“Now all you have to do is call the pharmaceutical rep and beg them to include him.”
“I’ll get my knee pads ready,” I tell him as I hang up, and for the first time since I met him, I actually see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Chapter Six
Zack
“One more period, boys,” Matthew says, getting up and heading for the ice. “Let’s get some pucks to the net.” I follow him to the ice as the third period starts. I’m on the ice when the puck drops, and Matthew wins the face-off, knocking it to me in the back. I skate down the side of the ice with the puck. Dallas’s forward tries to pick up my stick, but I’ve already passed the puck to Nathan, who passes it to Max at the blue line. I skate in, waiting at the blue line and watching them set up plays. My eyes follow the puck while it’s passed to Max, then Matthew, and then Phil. They make a box, trying to get inside the box that the other team has made.
When the puck is poke checked from Dallas and goes to Nathan, I skate in a bit of what I call my sweet spot. I see him with control of the puck, and he sends it my way, so I wind up my stick and slap it to the goalie. It slips under his pad, hitting the back of the net. I point at Nathan, who smiles and comes over. “Nice pass,” I tell him when he hits my head with his glove.
Max comes over. “Welcome to the team.” He laughs as we skate back to the bench to high-five everyone.
Matthew skates in behind me. “Glad you’re on my team,” he says, and I go to sit on the bench, squeezing water in my mouth as the announcer says my name. We end up winning the game. I walk to the back and find the reporters waiting around to talk to me.